Animals
- Animals
Bird mimicry lets hustlers keep cheating
Drongos are false alarm specialists that borrow other species’ warning sounds and freshen up their fraud.
- Animals
Caiman tears make a salty snack
An ecologist observed a bee and a butterfly hovering around a caiman, engaging in lacryphagous behavior, slurping up the crocodilian’s tears.
- Environment
Prestige oil spill linked to drop in seabird chicks
European shag in colonies affected by the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spill produced fewer chicks than birds in oil-free colonies.
- Animals
Abandoned frog eggs can hatch early
If their father doesn’t keep them hydrated, frog embryos react by hatching early.
- Genetics
Y chromosome gets a closer examination
The Y chromosome may play a larger role in Turner syndrome and in health and disease differences between males and females than previously thought.
- Animals
A guide to the world’s biggest flightless birds
A rhea on the loose in England has prompted warnings about approaching the bird. From ostriches to cassowaries, here’s your guide to friendly and unfriendly big birds.
- Animals
Frustrated fish get feisty
Smaller rainbow trout become more aggressive towards bigger fish when they don’t their usual treats.
- Animals
Secrets of a sailfish attack
The large, long-nosed sailfish use their rostrums more like a sword than a spear to attack prey.
- Animals
Dolphins use sponges to dine on different grub
The animals can learn to use tools to exploit food sources that would be otherwise unavailable, a study suggests.
- Genetics
Rainbow trout genome shows how genetic material evolved
The finding challenges the idea that whole genome duplications are followed by quick, massive reorganization and deletions of genetic material.
- Animals
Submariners’ ‘bio-duck’ is probably a whale
First acoustic tags on Antarctic minke whales suggest the marine mammals are the long-sought source of the mysterious bio-duck sound.
- Life
Cheetahs, but not wild dogs, manage to live with lions
One conservation tenet says that cheetahs can’t survive when lions are around, but it’s wild dogs that disappeared in one lion-dense area of the Serengeti.
